Fire investigators say they found no signs of arson following a raging blaze that completely destroyed three businesses at a Norcross strip mall earlier this month and forced several others to close indefinitely.
The massive fire was reported just before 4:30 a.m. on May 6 at the Colony Village plaza on South Norcross Tucker Road near Jimmy Carter Boulevard. Gwinnett County fire crews dispatched within minutes, but they found one business completely engulfed in flames when they arrived.
The fire spread quickly, destroying a taqueria, an Indian grocery store and a bar inside the shopping center, officials said. Two weeks later, the once-bustling strip mall is still without power and at least seven businesses remain closed.
Investigators have not been able to determine what caused the blaze, but Gwinnett fire spokesman Lt. Donald Strother said Thursday there is nothing to indicate the fire was intentionally set.
“A sample for ignitable liquids was analyzed at a laboratory and came back negative, thus making the cause undetermined,” Strother said in an email.
No injuries were reported in the fire, but it took 28 firefighters to get the flames under control before they could send any of the crews inside to search for victims, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.
“The structural integrity has been significantly compromised,” Strother said at the scene.
Three of the businesses were completely destroyed, two were badly damaged and at least two others are in decent condition. Unfortunately, those shops can’t reopen because they have not been approved for operation by a fire inspector. Even if they were, electricity hasn’t been restored at the shopping center.
Credit: Asia Simone Burns
Credit: Asia Simone Burns
The affected businesses include the Thai restaurant Siamese Basil, Aldiz hair salon, a bar called Coyote Feo, La Fragua taqueria, Eastern Groceries and Deportes Mundial, a sports bar next to the grocery store. Express Food Mart, located on the far right of the shopping center, is still standing though the products inside are in disarray.
— Staff writer Asia Simone Burns contributed to this article.
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